Bryan Greenberg plays every writer’s dream and nightmare in ABC’s “October Road,” returning Thursday, Nov. 22.
Like most writers, Nick Garrett (Greenberg) drew on his own experiences. His well-received novel was turned into a popular movie. But the people he depicted closely match those with whom he grew up, and they’re not too thrilled about it, which he finds out when he returns to his Massachusetts hometown and tries to pick up the pieces.
“Nick is a very complicated guy,” Greenberg says. “He’s a very instinctual person. … But at the same time, he has lived this other life and had this whole brush with fame and success. And even though he thought he wasn’t happy when he needed to get out of the small town, he really realized how lonely he was in New York with all his money.”
Greenberg, however, was quite thrilled when he lived in New York on very little money.
“It was awesome,” he says of studying theater at New York University. “First of all, when you are 18, all you want to do is be away from your parents.”
Though a top school, NYU is not like other campuses, being in the middle of Greenwich Village, and that’s what he loved.
“I had been in the city twice, to audition for NYU and when I was a kid. I loved the music, the movies. I loved everything about the city.”
“I am thankful for my upbringing,” he says. “The people in the Midwest have great moral values and are good people. I just wanted something more. I just wanted to experience life. It was that or USC.”
He lets out a slightly evil yet satisfied laugh. Greenberg recently shot an episode of the series in which he stars on the campus of the school that wouldn’t take him.
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Birthplace: Omaha, Neb.
Spent teen years in: St. Louis.
Birth date: May 24, 1978.
Where you’ve seen him: “One Tree Hill,” “Nobel Son,” “The Sopranos.”
Other talents: Plays guitar and writes songs; has performed on shows he acts on.
Favorite sport: Basketball.
Favorite teams: The Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns.
His best Halloween costume: Teen Wolf. “I was obsessed with Michael J. Fox,” he says.
What he drives: A Triumph Bonneville motorcycle and a Mercedes X5.
